Empire of Shadows

Lance put a cigarette to his lips, and Elvin had already taken out the matches.

With a hiss, the flame instantly flared up, lighting the cigarette.

The bright tip of the cigarette grew even brighter as he drew in. Lance patted Elvin’s hand, signaling that he could take the match away.

“Where was he caught?” he asked.

Elvin shook the match in his hand. The match was extinguished in the shaking, and he casually threw it on the ground.

“Near the company. Someone found this guy always loitering around the company, and he would often carefully observe the main gate of the company. He didn’t look like a good person.”

“I had someone directly arrest him. You said that if there’s a situation that’s not right, we should first ensure our own safety.”

“Devon used some methods, and he confessed everything.”

Lance had told Elvin and the others that if they found a situation that might be wrong, they had to make the first move and arrest the person.

If they arrested the wrong person, they would apologize and give some money. The vast majority of people would forgive them. After all, these people themselves had not suffered any actual harm and had also received a sum of money.For the sake of the money and not wanting to be an enemy of the gang, they would basically compromise.

If they caught the right person, then they would have solved a danger that could have caused a brother to leave everyone, before the crisis broke out.

The price paid was not much, but what was gained was a lot, so they could do this without limit.

Even if they really got into some trouble, Lance would personally come forward to solve it. He didn’t believe that with a senator from Congress backing him, there was anyone who wouldn’t compromise.

As he thought about it, he inexplicably laughed a few times. There was no specific reason; he just wanted to laugh. “Is it that simple?”

“It’s that simple!”

Lance sighed. His level of gang management had clearly surpassed this era.

But some things, even without a vision that surpassed the era, shouldn’t be made a mistake, right?

Just like this… assassin, let’s call him an assassin for now. Lance knew that to kill someone, he should send professional soldiers like Mador to do it.

They might not be the best assassins, but they were definitely the most professional gunmen, and the most professional scouts. They would not be rashly caught by others.

No matter who wanted to kill him, they should at least send a few reliable people over, instead of randomly choosing a few people who had “I’m an assassin” written on their faces. What was the difference between this and sending them to their deaths?

Lance shook his head. “Continue.”

“They came in a group of six. He himself was in charge of the stakeout. They weren’t sure if you were in the company, so they had to figure this out.”

“The remaining five are all hiding in a hotel, waiting for him to bring back news.”

“Once your specific location is confirmed, they will make a move. It’s just that he doesn’t know how to make a move, what means to use, only a general, rough plan.”

When he said this, Elvin also felt that they were very funny. It was clearly a very serious matter, yet they treated it so casually.

Lance nodded slightly. “Control them all first. Have Bolton check again to see if there are any other backup plans.”

“I always feel that they might be here for a laugh, a target to attract our attention, not a real backup plan.”

“Let’s leave it at that for now.”

Elvin nodded. “I have this feeling too. They are too casual,” he paused. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back first.”

After confirming that there was nothing else, he quickly turned and left.

At this time, the people who had come to the cocktail party had almost all arrived. The executive president of the Golden Port News Group began to take charge of the party.

Lance stood in a corner with a wine glass, watching him.

He stood in the most conspicuous position in the crowd, talking about some of his ideas about establishing a television station. He also mentioned that he would move some operas and movies to be broadcast on television.

There were also the news programs that people were most concerned about. In his words, as soon as a news story happened, within five minutes, it would be broadcast through a voice-over to let all the people who were watching the program know about this news.

In less than thirty minutes, as long as it was something that happened in the city, it would be transmitted to the audience through images.

In less than six hours, more detailed details would be presented to the audience. If necessary, they could even invite some commentators to directly comment on these programs!

This was a great invention and a great moment that would change the world. Even for the illiterate, they would become loyal “readers” of the television station.

Because they didn’t need to be able to read. They just needed to be able to understand what people were saying.

He described everything about the television station, about television, as very perfect. It seemed that the moment this thing appeared, it could have a completely subversive change.

But the people who believed him, or rather, who believed that the television and television business could create huge profits, were not many.

Capital will never teach others how to make money. They will only make money from others, or reduce their own losses through others, to spread their own risks.

There are many capitalists here. If they have a business that can make money, they will definitely bite off a piece of the fattest meat themselves first. Then, after they have eaten almost their fill, they will consider letting others come and eat.

Instead of inviting everyone to sit at the table before the dishes are even served.

It’s not that there are no such people among the capitalists. It’s just that most of these “hospitable” people have long been torn to pieces by their guests, along with the food they had prepared, and have been swallowed into their stomachs.

This is the most classic rhetorical question—

“If anyone can make money from this project, why don’t you do it yourself?”

In fact, many similar situations, attracting investment, or fraud, can be shattered by this simple rhetorical question.

But as it happens, some people are obsessed with the huge profits they have concocted and deliberately ignore these risks.

During this period, the executive president of the news group looked in Lance’s direction several times. Lance could understand his meaning, that he wanted him to also stand up and say a few words about the good future development of the television station, but Lance never did so.

If he did, it would only create some opponents for himself in terms of investment. It was even possible that what could have been bought for one dollar for two would now be one dollar for only one.

This was not impossible.

So the best thing for him to do now was to remain silent and let these “audience members” remain skeptical at all times.

The more they questioned, the faster Lance’s knife would be sharpened, and the more beneficial it would be for him.

The few people in the hotel did not know that Lance was sharpening his knife not far from them. The knife was already polished to a mirror finish, just waiting for the right time to stab it in.

They also did not know that they had already been exposed, and were still waiting for a suitable opportunity to let the people of Golden Port see the iron fist of the Holy Bell Party!

The hotels in Golden Port City were basically concentrated in the city center and the Starlight District. Other places were not very suitable for building better hotels. Those places could only be called inns.

Their choice of a hotel was also due to the consideration that the Lance Family’s control over Golden Port City would be relatively strong.

Because of the special nature of a hotel, they did not believe that Lance could make all the hotels cooperate with them and check the information of every guest staying in the hotel at any time.

Moreover, even if they were found out, it was impossible to know that they were definitely members of the Holy Bell Party.

On the contrary, the small inns on the side of the road might be more dangerous, because they could completely abandon their position and were also most severely controlled by the gangs.

They didn’t need any evidence. As long as they felt you were, they would call for people.

So a hotel controlled by big capitalists and financial magnates was the best choice at a time like this. This was definitely not because they were greedy for pleasure.

They had chosen a very luxurious hotel in the city center. The more luxurious, it meant that the hotel’s background was stronger, which meant that the possibility of them being exposed was smaller.

It was just that they didn’t know that their companion had already been discovered and arrested, and even more so that this guy, who always shouted about dedicating himself to the Lord, had not been able to hold on for even a while.

In fact, it would be the same for them.

The guy who had stood up first and said he wanted to kill Lance was sitting on the sofa with his shirt off, gnawing on a fruit. “We have to wait, wait until we have figured out Lance’s whereabouts, and then we will immediately make a move.”

They had driven over to have a look before and had a rough idea of the situation of the entire building. For them, who were relatively “rough,” the simplest way was to wait for Lance to come out, and then a group of people would rush over and shoot at Lance, riddling him with bullets, and then take advantage of the chaos to leave.

While chewing the pulp in his mouth and swallowing, he waved his arm and said, “The driver will prepare the car, keep it running. After we kill Lance, we will get in your car directly, and then you will drive the car away directly.”

“In the afternoon, you go and familiarize yourself with the route, the fastest route out of the city, and also have a backup plan.”

“This place is too fucking congested. If we get stuck on the road, it will be terrible. We have to take precautions.”

The driver nodded. “I see.”

Then he looked at the other few people. “We will be responsible for directly making a move. Before we open fire, we can call Lance’s name to let him react.”

“Remember, everyone, don’t be greedy and shoot too many times. As long as we hit Lance, we will leave!”

“This is their base camp. If we are late for even a while, half a minute, we might not be able to get away.”

“So everyone, please remember, don’t linger in the fight. Three or four shots, four or five shots, and then leave after you’ve fired, regardless of whether you’ve killed him or not.”

“They will definitely arrange for people to chase us, so this journey will definitely be quite difficult. Each of us must be mentally prepared.”

“Once the vehicle is intercepted, we must have the determination to fight to the death…”

He had explained many of the matters. Time had also passed bit by bit. Seeing that it was almost time for lunch, and there was still no call back, he frowned and already felt that something was not quite right.

Just at this moment, the door of the hotel room was knocked on. “Sir, room service.”

A person with an obviously lower status here walked to the side of the door, opened it, and looked outside.

A hotel waiter was standing there with a food cart. “Sir, you did not go to the restaurant to dine, so the hotel asked me to bring your lunch up.”

As he spoke, he picked up a cloche, and with a very skillful wrist movement, he made the cloche, with the rising steam, form a small cyclone.

Doing so actually couldn’t make the food more delicious, but it could make people feel that it was high-class.

The fragrance of the food reached the nose of the person behind the door. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva. “Wait.”

Then he returned to the room inside. “The hotel has sent up lunch. They said they didn’t see us go down to dine. Do you need it?”

They had been here all morning. Even if they had done nothing, they were hungry now.

Not to mention that these people were the kind who could eat. The leader thought about it for a moment and then agreed. “As it happens, I’m hungry too.”

Obviously, they might not be truly devout in some aspects, because the Lord had said to restrain one’s desires, which included a rampaging appetite.

He had just finished eating a fruit!

A smile appeared on everyone’s face. The guy with the lowest status ran to the side of the door with a smile and opened it. “Come in quickly.”

The waiter pushed the cart into the door, completely blocking the possibility of the door being closed again. He said with a smile, “Okay, sir, but please leave the side of the door first, so that my cart will not bump into you.”

The guy with the low status made way for him to enter, completely leaving the position by the door. He also rubbed his hands together, with a look of being unable to wait to enjoy a great meal.

Looking at the exquisite dishes one after another, the saliva in his mouth was frantically secreting. He quickly came to the side of the dining room and, facing the people who were already sitting in the dining room waiting to be served, he showed a smile. “Brothers, ta-da, the delicious lunch is just…”

His voice gradually weakened and disappeared. His expression also became a little ugly.

Because on the faces of his brothers, he saw surprise, he saw fear, he saw despair.

And the source of the fear was right behind him.

He slowly turned sideways, turned his head, for fear that his movements would be a little too big and would cause a misunderstanding from the people behind him.

When the food cart, the waiter, and a large group of people with guns were pointing their weapons at them from behind, he showed an ugly smile.

Who the fuck said that you won’t be discovered if you stay in a hotel?

In fact, they really had not been discovered. What had led to them being discovered was their good brother.

He slowly raised his hands and said in the weakest tone of his life, “Don’t shoot!”

They always said that even if they died, it would just be returning to the embrace of the Lord. But at this moment, he suddenly felt that he did not want to meet the Lord so much.

Soon these people were brought under control. They were taken away. In a relatively remote small factory in the Empire District of the Lance Family, they saw their good brother.

At this moment, they already knew why they had been discovered and arrested.

Devon came to them with a hook that a shoemaker used to hook thread on the sole of a shoe. “Before I ask questions, I’ll play a game with you first…!”

He had only recently discovered that this small thing looked inconspicuous. It was just an iron pick with a sharp head, but there was an opening at the top, with a notch similar to a barb.

This notch was used to clamp the thread, and then to drag it to the other side.

But now, its role was to forcibly tear the muscle fibers, fat, and also the skin of the wound, bringing people a pain that was definitely more unsettling than just giving them a cut!

They had a long time to play this, but the executive president who was persuading investors did not have that much time.

There were very few people who had an intention to invest, because the investment was not small.

The idea of the news group was to build a larger-scale studio and shooting base. They had even proposed the idea of a “television movie.”

The operas and movies they had planned to broadcast in the early days all had to be bought for the copyright to be broadcast. Although the price was not high, a few hundred for a movie, and an opera was a little more expensive, maybe a thousand or several thousand.

The problem was that they had no means of making a profit now. Instead of always buying copyrights, it was better for them to shoot some content themselves and broadcast it.

But no matter what valuable suggestions they had proposed, they could not get everyone’s favor, because they had no means of making a profit.

This era was not yet the era where the number of users determined everything in the future. Even if a television had many viewers, how to get a profit would be a very complicated problem.

Inserting advertisements was already being done by some, but the effect was not good, and it certainly would not be good.

Now, the people who could afford a television were all extraordinary middle-class people. The number of people affected was small, and had no statistical value.

Some enterprises were willing to advertise, but were not willing to spend too much money. They were only willing to pay a few thousand a month. Any more and they were not willing.

This amount of money was not even enough for them to buy an opera.

In short, there were not many who were optimistic about these.

The board of directors’ requirement for him was to try to facilitate an investment of five million as much as possible, but now not even half had been reached.

Seeing that lunchtime had already arrived, he also knew that it was all over.

He ended this topic with some dejection, and then invited everyone to have lunch together, and finally saw everyone off.

When he was thinking dejectedly about how to explain to the board of directors, he saw Lance, who had not left, behind him.

“Mr. Lance, are you waiting for a car?”

“If you don’t have any special requirements for this, you can take my car first. I don’t need a car for the time being.”

Lance shook his head. “Compared to taking your car, I’d rather talk to you about investment.”

Looking at the executive president’s face gradually filling with pleasant surprise, Lance said with a smile, “Five million is too little. I need more!”

The executive president did not agree directly because of this. He invited Lance to another more closed room, and then he made a phone call to the board of directors, in front of Lance.

Soon the two sides reached an agreement on the investment and equity distribution of the television station. Lance took 35%, and directly gave six million, while the others and the news group took 65%.

Besides this, without affecting the normal broadcasting of the television station, the content recorded by Lance’s Wanli Production Company would be given priority for broadcasting…

(End of a Chapter)